Method of and device for wrapping articles



June 26, 1934. H. s. RUBENS METHOD OF AND DEVICE FOR WRAPPING ARTICLESFiled June 19. 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet l fi 0W June 26, 1934. s RUBENS1,964,083

METHOD OF AND DEVICE FOR WRAPPING ARTICLES Filed June 19, 1933 2Sheets-Sheet 2 m Xgwmw *ww Fwy/a Patented June 26, 1934 METHOD OF ANDDEVICE FOR WRAPPING ARTICLES Harry S. Rubens, Chicago, 111.

Application June 19,

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a method of and device for wrapping articlesand more particularly to a method of and device for wrapping textilegarments or other relatively soft or yielding articles in cellophane orother flexible Wrapping material.

The advantages 0 well known in the art,

f a Wrapping of this sort are but the matter of applying such a wrappingto textile garments or other relatively soft, yielding, or easilyimpressible articles has presented a difficult practical problem. Withthe garment folded to the desired form and placed upon a sheet of suchwrapping material, it is diiicult, if not practically impossible, tofold the wrapping material directly over the margins of the soft garmentwithout wrinkling or distorting the desired folded form of the garment.As the wrapping is folded over the margins and in over the top of thegarment the soft margins of the garment do not present edges ofsufficient rigidity to produce uniformity in the individual packagesand, as a result, the appearance of the wrapped article is not pleasing.The wrapping is difficult and, if any attempt is made to produceuniformity and the desired appearance of the package, time is consumedand the cost is increased,

Attempts have been made to meet this problem by providing the wrappingmaterial with a backing of cardboard or other relatively stiff materialwhich forms a permanent part and usually one side of the package andwhich is shaped in conformity with the shape of the garment, but thisdetracts from the appearance of the package and increases the cost ofpackaging the garment. It has also been proposed to complete the packageexcept for one side opening, and. then to insert the garment and closethe open side, but this is expensive and, again, it is difficult, if notpractically impossible, to place the soft folded garment in such apackage without wrinkling or distorting the garment from its desiredsmooth folded form.

My present invention has certain advantages not found in the wrappingmethods of the prior art, first of which is its ability to packageuniformly soft yielding articles without wrinkling or distorting thesame from their desired smooth and even folded form. The method is suchas to be readily carried out quickly and at low cost and withoutparticular skill on the part of the wrapper. And the individuallywrapped garments are of uniform and pleasing appearance.

I employ a so-called wrapping member having sides conforming withmargins of the garment or 1933, Serial No. 676,420

other article. yielding article is placed upo ping material placed uponconform with FFICE The garment or other soft and n the sheet of wrapandthe wrapping member is then the article with the sides the margins ofthe article in regwhich ister with such margins, whereupon the wrappingmaterial is folded over the relatively soft and yielding margins of thearticle and across the edges of the wrap gether along meeting edges.

ping member, and secured to- The wrapping memher is removed through anopen side of the wrapping and the wrapping material is then folded alongsuch side over the margin of the article and secured to the other sides.

Another feature which is of importance in my invention resides in theprovision of interchangeable wrapping members adapted for detachableconnection to the upon the article.

means sizes depending upon for placing the same This enables attachmentof different wrapping members to the means for ticle, and the wrapbe ofdifferent forms and the configurations and sizes of the particulararticles with which the wrapping members are to be used In order toacquaint those skilled in the art with the manner of carrying out themethod of my invention and with a device for practicing such method, Ishall now describe, in connection with the accompanying drawings, aspecific embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings: Figure l is perspective vi away and showing a mypresent method;

member in place upon the ew partially broken device for use inpracticing Flgure 2 1s a plan view showing the wrapping article and infull lines two opposite sides of the wrapping folded over the margins ofthe article and across the edges of the wrapping member and securedtogether along meeting edges; Figure 3 is a view similar the third sideof the to Figure 2 showing wrapping folded over the third margin of thearticle and across the outer end of the wrapping mei other sides;

ber and secured to the Figure 4 is a View similar to Figures 2 and 3showing the manner of removing the wrapped article from the wrappingmember; and

Figure 5 'is a perspective view showing the wrapped article and,

in doted lines, the manner of folding the wrapping material along theopen side over the margin of the same to the other sides.

Referring to the drawing article and securing s, the device shown iii]comprises a bench, table or other member having a flat horizontal top 5.Screwed fast or otherwise secured at 6 to the top is an angular bracket'7 to which is hinged at 8 a vertically swingable arm 9.

The wrapping member is in the form of a thin fiat metal plate 10 which,in the illustrated embodiment of the invention, is of generallyrectangular form. This plate 10 is secured rigidly and, at the sametime, detachably by thumb screws 11 to the free end of the arm 9 andswings vertically with the vertical swinging movement of the arm. Theplate 10 is of the width of the article to be wrapped, and the outer end12 is disposed at right angles to the opposite sides 14 and 15. Theouter corners may be rounded slightly at 16, although such rounding isnot essential.

For the purpose of holding the plate 10 yieldingly in raised position asshown in dotted lines at 18 and to return the plate to this positionafter each actuation, as will appear, a coiled tension spring 20 isconnected at 21 to the arm 9. This spring 20 extends diagonally upwardlyto the upper end of a post 22 and is secured at 23 to this post.- Thelower end of the post 22 is secured fast to the top 5 at 24. The top 5has an opening 25 in the plane of swinging movement of the arm 9, anddisposed beneath the top 5, as for example, upon the floor, is a footoperated treadle 26. The treadle 26 is hinged or pivoted at one end at27 to swing vertically, and its opposite end is connected by a chain orother suitable flexible element 28 to the arm 9, one end of the flexibleconnecting element 28 being connected at 29 to the free end of the foottreadle 26 and the opposite end of the connecting element beingconnected at 30 to the arm 9.

In wrapping an article in accordance with my present invention, thesheet of thin flexible wrapping material indicated at 32 is first placedupon the top 5 between sheet positioning abutments 33 secured to the top5 and cooperating with three sides of the sheet 32 as shown. Thewrapping material is preferably a thin flat flexible sheet of cellulosematerial, such as cellophane, but it is to be understood that any othersuitable or preferred material may be employed within the scope of thepresent invention. In the illustrated embodiment, this sheet 32 is ofsubstantially square or rectangular form, but this may vary widely.

With the sheet 32 positioned as shown, the article 35 is placed upon thesheet. As illustrative of articles for the wrapping of which the presentinvention is particularly adapted the article shown is a soft yieldingtextile garment, specifically a childs undergarment, although, ofcourse, the invention is adapted to be used for wrapping any otherrelatively soft and yielding articles. The garment 35 is folded togenerally rectangular or other suitable form and is placed upon thesheet of wrapping material 32 with its opposite sides 38 and 39 lyinggenerally along lines connecting the centers of the sides 40, 41 and 42,43 of the sheet 32. In the illustrated embodiment, the other sides 44and 45 of the folded garment 35 lie generally along lines connecting thecenter of the sides 40, 42 and 41, 43 of the sheet 32. Of course theparticular positioning of the folded garment 35 upon the sheet 32 mayvary widely within the scope of my present invention.

After positioning the folded garment 35 upon the sheet 32 the foottreadle 26 is operated by pressure of the foot thereon to swing thewrapping member from the raised position shown in dotted lines down uponthe folded garment 35 with its opposite sides 14 and 15 in register orsubstantial register with the soft and yielding margins 38 and 39 of thegarment, and with the edge 12 in register 01' substantial register withthe soft and yielding margin 45 of the garment. The corners and 51 ofthe wrapping material are then folded over the soft and yielding margins38 and 39 and across the relatively stiff edges 14 and 15 of thewrapping member 10, and the overlapping ends are glued or otherwisesuitably secured together at 52. The third corner 53 of the wrappingmaterial is folded over the relatively soft and yielding margin 45 ofthe folded garment and across the relatively stiff edge 12 of the member10, and is glued or otherwise secured at 54 to the folded portions 50and 51 along the edges of the folded portion 53 which overlap the edgesof the portions 50 and 51.

In wrapping the garment in this manner, the wrapping member 10, by itsapplication upon the folded garment, holds the garment in flat andsmooth form upon the top or supporting surface 5, and its edges 12, 14and 15 being disposed in substantial register and conforming with thesoft and yielding margins 45, 38 and 39 of the folded garment presentrelatively stiff edges over which the wrapping material may be foldedwithout wrinkling or distorting the desired folded form of the garmentand without depending upon the soft and yielding and relatively thickedges of the garment to hold the wrapping material as it is foldedthereover. As a result, the garments are mapped quickly and at low costas well as without particular skill on the part of the wrapper, and theindividually Wrapped garment as shown in Figure 5 is of pleasingappearance. It is to be understood, of course, that several garments orarticles may be Wrapped in the same package in accordance with thepresent invention. The wrapping method of the present invention assurespackages of uniform thickness notwithstanding the soft yieldingcharacter and considerable thickness in the folded garment itself, andit assures packages of uniform contour around the edges.

With the garment wrapped, as thus far described, one side of thewrapping member 10 projects from the side 44 of the garment, thewrapping along this side being left open until the wrapped garment isremoved from the member 10. Then, with the portions 50, 51 and 53 of thewrapping material folded over and secured together, the garment, as thusfar wrapped, is removed from the wrapping member 10 by slipping itlongitudinally therefrom in the direction of the arrow in Figure 4. Themember which holds the folded garment fiat and smooth and which presentsthe folding edges in wrapping the garment, therefore, does notconstitute a part of the package, but is removed. Then after removingthe member 10 from the open side of the package from which said memberor portion. of the wrapping material is folded in over the adjacentmargin of the garment 35 and glued or otherwise secured to the otherportions 50, 51 and 53 at 62.

In wrapping the article, the foot treadle 26 is held depressed from thetime it is operated to place the wrapping member 10 down into positionupon the article 35 until the article and wrapping are ready for removalfrom the member 10. The treadle is then released and the projects, thefourth corner spring 20 operates to raise the member 10 to its dottedline position (Figure 1). As or when the member 10 is raised, thearticle and wrapping are removed from this member as already described.

The detachable mounting of the wrapping member or plate 10 upon the arm9 at 11 enables this plate to be removed and replaced at will wherebysaid plate and another or other wrapping plates of difierent sizes andconfigurations may be interchanged for use with articles of differentsizes or shapes, or articles which are folded to different sizes orconfigurations.

I do not intend to be limited to the particular etails shown ordescribed.

I claim:

1. In combination, a member for supporting a sheet of wrapping materialwith an article in position thereon, a bracket secured to saidsupporting member, an arm hinged to said bracket, a wrapping plate of awidth corresponding to the width of the article detachably connected tosaid arm to be interchanged with other plates of different widths forarticles of diiferent widths and adapted to be swung down into positionupon the article with the end of said plate coinciding with one marginof the article and the opposite side edges of the plate coinciding withother margins of the article to permit folding the wrapping materialover the margins of the article and across the edges of the wrappingmember, means for swinging said wrapping member down upon the article,and spring means for returning said wrapping member to raised positionafter each operation of said last means.

2. The method of wrapping a soft and yielding article in a thin flexiblewrapper which comprises laying the wrapper out in the form of a flatsheet, placing the article upon said sheet with the margins of the sheetextending from position beneath the article and lying in the plane ofthe portion of the sheet disposed beneath the article, placing upon thearticle with the sheet in fiat position a relatively stiif wrappingmember extending from one margin of the article and having edgescoinciding with the other margins of the article, thereafter folding theextending margins of the sheet over the margins of the article withwhich edges of the wrapping member coincide and across said coincidingedges of the wrapping member, securing said folded margins of the sheetdirectly together free of said wrapping member, removing the wrappingmemher in a direction away from the margin of the article from whichsaid member extends, and folding the margin of the sheet along themargin of the article from which said wrapping member is removed overthe adjacent margin of the article and securing same directly to theother folded and secured portions of the sheet.

3. Tthe method of wrapping a relatively soft and yielding textilearticle in a thin flexible and generally rectangular wrapper whichcomprises laying the wrapper out in the form of a fiat sheet, placingthe article upon the sheet with diagonals of the article intersectingdiagonals of the sheet and with generally triangular extensions of thesheet beyond the margins of the article, placing upon the article withthe sheet in fiat position a relatively stiff wrapping member extendingoutwardly from one margin of the article and having edges coincidingwith the other margins of the article, thereafter folding the triangularextensions of the sheet over the margins of the article with which theedges of the wrapping member coincide and across said coinciding edgesof the wrapping member, securing said folded margins of the sheetdirectly together free of said wrapping member, removing the wrappingmember in a direction away from the margin of the article from whichsaid member extends, and folding the margin of the sheet along themargin of the article from which said wrapping member is removed overthe adjacent margin of the article and securing same directly to theother folded and secured portions of the sheet.

HARRY S. RUBENS.

